Mucosal vaccination with recombinantly attenuated staphylococcal enterotoxin B and protection in a murine model

Previous work in our laboratory revealed that mice parenterally vaccinated, vith recombinantly attenuated staphylococcal enterotoxin (SE) or toxic shoc k syndrome toxin 1 develop protective antibodies against a lethal intraperi toneal (i.p.) toxin challenge. This study investigated the efficacy of nasa l and oral immunizations with an SEE vaccine (SEBv) toward an i.p. or mucos al (via an aerosol) toxin challenge. Both vaccination routes, with the immu noadjuvant cholera toxin (CT), elicited comparable SEE-specific immunoglobu lin A (IgA) and IgG levels in saliva. Nasal or oral inoculations also gener ated SEE-specific IgA, IgG, and IgM in the serum, but the nasal route yield ed higher specific IgG titers, SEBv alone, when given nasally or orally, di d not induce any detectable SEE-specific antibody. Mice vaccinated mucosall y were protected against a 50% lethal dose of wild type SEE given i.p. or m ucosally, thus demonstrating that nasal or oral administration of this SEBv , with CT, elicits systemic and mucosal antibodies to SEE that protect agai nst SEE-induced lethal shock.